Market District Recipes: Pastitsio & Tomato Braised Calamari
If you're looking for some delicious new dishes to try in your home, check out these two from the Giant Eagle Market District!
Pastitsio
Serves: 12 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 55 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- Salt and pepper
- 1/3 tsp nutmeg
- 2lb ground lamb
- ¼ cup market District olive oil
- 3 cups onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 2-28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/3 cup currants
- 1 lb ziti
- ¾ cups freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
- 2 large egg yolks
Directions:
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter and whisk over medium heat for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick, Season with 1 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Press plastic wrap directly on the sauce and let cool.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot over meium heat. Add the onion to the pot and cook until the onion transluscent. Add the lamb and cook until browned. Drain off any excess grease. Stir in the cinnamon, allspice the remaining nutmeg and tomato paste. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is nearly evaporated. Add tomatoes and their liquid, oregano and currants. Season the lamb mixture with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the ziti in a large pot of boiling salted water until barely al dente and let cool.
Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Line the bottom of the dish with one-fourth of the ziti.
Spread 2 cups of the white sauce on top of the ziti, then cover with the lamb sauce and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup of the cheese. Top with the remaining ziti.
Stir the egg yolks into the remaining white sauce and spread it over the ziti. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake until the pastitsio is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Let the Pastitsio stand for 20 minutes before cutting.
Tomato Braised Calamari
Serves 4
Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cups onion, chopped
- 1 cup fennel, chopped
- 2 small red chile peppers, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 cup red wine
- 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 4 lb calamari, cleaned and cut into 1 inch rings
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup parsley
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add the onion and fennel and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and chiles; cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the oregano , orange zest, wine and tomato sauce. Turn the heat up to medium and bring to a simmer. Add the calamari and season with salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil.
Place in the preheated oven and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the calamari is very
tender. If the calamari becomes too dry during the cooking process, add about 1/4 water at a time to keep it moist.
Remove from the oven and stir in the parsley.
This can be cooked on the stove top over very low heat (bare simmer) for the same amount of time.
